This relates generally to testing wireless electronic devices and more particularly, to testing multiple wireless electronic devices placed in a test chamber.
Wireless electronic devices typically include transceiver circuitry, antenna circuitry, and other radio-frequency circuitry that provide wireless communications capabilities. During testing, wireless electronic devices under test (DUTs) can exhibit different performance levels. For example, each wireless DUT in a group of DUTs can exhibit its own output power level, gain, frequency response, efficiency, linearity, dynamic range, etc.
The performance of a wireless DUT can be measured using a radio-frequency (RF) test station. An RF test station typically includes a test host, a tester (e.g., a signal generator), and a test chamber. The signal generator is connected to the test host. Arranged in this way, the test host configures the signal generator to transmit radio-frequency signals during test operations.
In conventional radio-frequency test arrangements, a wireless DUT is placed into the test chamber. The DUT is connected to the test host using a control cable. The test host directs the signal generator to broadcast downlink signals at a predetermined output power level to the DUT over a wireless path or a wired path. The test host directs the DUT to synchronize with the downlink signals broadcast from the signal generator.
The DUT receives the downlink signals. The received downlink signals exhibit a power level that is substantially less than the predetermined output power level (e.g., the power level of the received downlink signals may be 20 dB less than the predetermined output power level). The DUT analyzes the received downlink signals and determines whether the received downlink signals satisfy performance criteria. For example, the DUT can compute a bit error rate based on the received downlink signals. If the bit error rate is less than a predetermined threshold, the DUT is marked as a passing DUT. If the bit error rate is greater than the predetermined threshold, the DUT is marked as a failing DUT.
After the DUT has been marked as a passing DUT or a failing DUT, the DUT is disconnected from the test host (i.e., by unplugging the control cable from the DUT) and is removed from the test chamber. To test additional DUTs, an additional DUT is connected to the test host (i.e., by plugging the control cable into a corresponding mating connector in the additional DUT) and is placed into the test chamber for downlink testing.
Wireless testing using this conventional approach may be inefficient, because the process of connecting a DUT to the test host, placing the DUT in the test chamber, testing the DUT, removing the DUT from the test chamber, and disconnecting the DUT from the test host one DUT at a time is time-consuming.
It would therefore be desirable to be able to provide improved ways of performing downlink testing.